'Old Bags': A Revealing Look At Age And Body Image

By MELINDA TUHUS

Jan 02, 2016 | 2:18 PM

Faith Baum and Lori Petchers are middle-aged friends who used to talk a lot about being middle-aged. Around 2010, Petchers says, "We thought of having an image that defines the experience — a woman with a bag over her head, being sort of captive in their own bodies and being captive in how society sees us.

"Originally we wanted to do nude women, but we found it was harder to get women to do that. Wearing their underwear gave a little individuality to the images."

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Their heads are covered with bags from women's clothing stores, "where middle-aged women are not their target market, like Gap, Forever21, Victoria's Secret, J Crew, Old Navy. We didn't want to target one company. The bags have a lot of identity, more than the women, because everybody recognizes a Gap bag."

The two friends began with themselves, then invited their friends to participate. Every time they had a show, more women were interested and came to subsequent shoots. The images include women of different races and different body types. The project now includes photos of about 60 women, and quotes from 60 mostly different women, but there is some overlap. "Some women would rather contribute a quote, but not their body," Petcher says.

The two women grew up in Fairfield and Petcher still lives there, while her friend summers in town. More than half the women represented in the shows come from photo shoots done in New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford.

The project has expanded to include a blog, an Instagram account and a book published this past fall, available on their website, www.oldbagsproject.com.

A sampling of the quotes reveals that women at mid-life can have very different takes on their position in society and their lot in life. One laments: "Shopping for flattering clothes that don't cinch my nebulous waist, reveal my veined legs, or showcase my vague lumps has become the most demanding enterprise of my fifties. Some of my most creative thinking has gone into putting together flattering outfits. Few of us are athletes."

Another comments, more positively: "In all my craziness, I feel like now is the time for me to learn and to really do what I want to do. My time is filled with that rather than, 'Oh, I wonder how somebody else sees me.' "

And this quote illustrates that women can still have a sense of humor about it all: "I can't understand why more middle-aged women aren't criminals. We probably could get away with anything because nobody notices us."